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Why Pregnant Women Must Seek Prenatal Care

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If you are pregnant, you will want to have a healthy pregnancy. You don’t want to put stress on your baby while it is in your womb. A healthy baby is possible with good prenatal care in Memorial City. Whether it is your first time to conceive or you have many children, you must seek prenatal care to ensure your baby is healthy and you avoid complications. 

Importance of Prenatal Care?

Getting regular prenatal care throughout your pregnancy is important to catch possible issues early, minimize the risk of complications during pregnancy, and prevent issues during delivery. Once you suspect you are pregnant, schedule an appointment with your OB/GYN right away. By getting regular medical care during pregnancy, you get important information on body changes that could put your condition or health at risk. 

Prenatal care is particularly essential for women who have high-risk pregnancies. Factors such as obesity or underweight, very young age or more than 35, pregnancies with twins and triplets, medical conditions, as well as issues in past pregnancies will increase the risk of pregnancy issues. 

What to Expect During Your Prenatal Visits?

When you first visit your OB/GYN, you will be asked questions regarding previous pregnancies, any disease, and past operations. You should give your doctor complete health history to get the information they need to ensure you get the best possible care during your pregnancy. During your prenatal visit, you will undergo a physical exam, pelvic exam, and cervical exam, including a Pap test. Also, your OB/GYN may perform a breast exam, check your weight, blood pressure, and height, as well as take your urine and blood for laboratory tests. Your subsequent visits will include checking your weight and blood pressure as well as checking the heartbeat and growth of your baby. Your doctor will also let you hear your baby’s heartbeat and ask questions regarding your pregnancy. 

When to Schedule a Prenatal Visit?

Prenatal visits must be scheduled as soon as possible, usually eight weeks from your last menstrual cycle. A lot of women will only know they are pregnant between 4- 6 weeks following conception. Expect your doctor to order blood work before your prenatal visit. 

If you are pregnant and have not sought prenatal care, it is never too late to start it. Not getting prenatal care can increase the likelihood of your baby having a low birth weight and experiencing birth complications.   

Michelle has been a part of the journey ever since Bigtime Daily started. As a strong learner and passionate writer, she contributes her editing skills for the news agency. She also jots down intellectual pieces from categories such as science and health.

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Health

What Interferes with Successful Breastfeeding?

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While breastfeeding is ideal, it comes with many difficulties new parents might face.

After experiencing the intensity of labor and delivery, many new parents are left exhausted. Despite this fatigue and surviving pospartum, new parents soon learn the importance of managing the needs of an infant. Putting aside their own desires, parents learn to quickly adapt.

Exhaustion and recovery are not the only things that discourage parents from breastfeeding. There are a variety of other woes that can make it difficult for a lactating parent to continue to choose this option. 

While 83 percent of women breastfeed at the beginning of postpartum, there is a drastic reduction by 6 months, resulting in only 56% of babies still being breastfed. 

Engorged Breasts

When a lactating woman’s milk comes in, she may experience intense pain and discomfort. The breasts typically become overly filled with milk because they have not yet regulated their supply. This engorgement can continue throughout the breastfeeding journey for a variety of reasons.

If the baby’s schedule changes, a woman’s breasts can become overly full. If the parent misses a feeding, breasts can experience discomfor which can lead to breastfeeding infection. If a woman becomes preoccupied at work and does not make time to pump, she can experience discomfort. 

If breast engorgement is not treated properly, milk ducts can become blocked, and if a woman does not work to move the milk through her breasts (via feeding her baby, pumping, or expressing the milk), this engorgement can lead to further problems and may cause clogged milk ducts.

Infection

One of the biggest concerns beyond the pain a woman experiences with engorgement is infection. This is known as mastitis, and leads to a woman experiencing not only breast pain and warm breast tissue, but also flu-like symptoms that come with fever, chills, headache, and further exhaustion.

In order to help prevent infection, regular feedings are essential. Often, the best mastitis treatment, at least for early symptoms, is to massage the breast in a warm shower and express the extra milk.

Furthermore, by working with an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), parents can have a great resource on how to best deal with, treat, and alleviate these problems. 

Not only is an IBCLC a great resource in helping prevent breast infection, but a great source for your breastfeeding journey to encourage and educate you in best practices. 

The best way to achieve breastfeeding success is to utilize the many tools that an IBCLC offers. 

Burnout

To exclusively breastfeed your baby can be quite overwhelming and exhausting. Between nightly feedings, cluster feedings, and pumping sessions for working mothers, breastfeeding is difficult to maintain. Unless a woman is properly supported by her family, friends, and workplace, the chances that a woman will continue to breastfeed are significantly impacted.

Culture also impacts the likelihood of a baby being breastfed beyond 6 months. The CDC discovered that parents in the Southeast United States are less likely to breastfeed their children past six months. This was in contrast to the Northwest, where business policies and the culture is more breastfeeding-friendly and supportive. 

Conclusion

Despite the nutritional benefits afforded to a breastfed baby, there are many obstacles that can be discouraging for parents on their breastfeeding journey. From exhaustion to pain to lack of supoort, parents have many reasons to give up. 

To increase your chances of success, surround yourself with supportive individuals, reach out to an IBCLC, also known as lactation consultants, and gain the necessary tools required to provide your child with the healthiest option available – you!

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